This weekend I got the chance to shoot with the new Profoto USA B2 lights at a workshop held by photographer Zach Sutton. I was skeptical at first, not fully understanding why Profoto would make these lights? The B1’s ROCK! And have 1 more full stop then the B2’s; I just didn’t see the market. Then I picked them up. The B2 weigh’s next to nothing! Besides being super light weight, the quality of light is AMAZING! No they aren’t battery powered, but once you hold the unit in your hand and see how truly portable they are.

With the new year brings new gear… specifically new gear for my 4 year old son, Johnny. I… I mean Santa, went out and found this awesome blue Kidizoom camera by VTech, which can be purchased here. If you read the specs you see that this beast is a WHOPPING 1.3 megapixels that can be reduced to .3 should you desire. It has built in memory, but I opted to insert a 16 gig microSD card, purely for comedic effect!

new camera!

I took to the streets of NYC with my friend and model Cheyenne Lutek because lets face it, if you walk around with a toy camera anywhere else in the world you will get lots of strange looks, but not in NYC.

Below are a few shots from Johnny’s camera taken on the streets of NYC in broad daylight! All retouching was done in Alienskin Exposure 7 using the Wet Plate Destroyed filter.

The first 2 photos I had Cheyenne stand behind a plastic sheet which we found on the street. The buildings you see are a reflection on the plastic NOT a double exposure.

Ok so maybe the title was a bit deceiving, but technically this photo was NOT edited in Photoshop or Lightroom, but rather the new AlienSkin Exposure 7 with RAW conversion capabilities. If you have 8 minutes, check out my LIVE retouch here. I’m been a BIG fan of Exposure and have been using it for years. If you’re just getting started in photography and looking for some GREAT software I highly recommend Exposure 7… They have a FREE trial if you click here. Exposure 7 works as stand alone software and as a plug-in, so you don’t need Photoshop to use! I’m interested to hear your thoughts about using Exposure so please comment on this post.

You heard right, there are NO lighting tests when I shoot. The second my subject steps in front of my camera I immediately start shooting, no light testing necessary. I will however meter the light using my Sekonic L-758DR, but as far as telling my model to “relax i’m just testing the light and checking exposure” just doesn’t happen anymore. I’ve taken many AWESOME photos right out of the gate that its far better to have your subject pose rather than have them just stand or sit there, you might catch something awesome! It’s far easier to check that your lights are positioned correctly and re-adjust than it is for the model to make that once in a lifetime face and pose.

My advice… Set-up your lights, take a meter reading, position your model and start shooting… if something looks a little off, don’t let your model know! Just take a few more shots and say something like “good” or “beautiful” after each shutter press. After you take maybe 5-6 photos, tell your model they’re doing great, but you want to try to add a bit more “spice” (use your own words here) and then re-adjust your lights if needed.

In the photo below I asked my model to stand on his mark and adjust his glasses. While he was doing so I released the shutter. Initially I thought the rim lights were too blown out, but the pose was AWESOME. I was able to pull down the highlights in Lightroom and recover details. I then retouched the image in Photoshop and toned it using Alien Skin Exposure. Out of all the photo I took, this was by far the most interesting! Had I asked the model to stand there while I adjusted lights, then kept asking him to adjust his glasses, I would have lost this genuine look.

I thought I would share my favorite lighting setup with you. As you can see I have a Silver Beauty Dish with Diffusion positioned just above the models head. I have 2 rim lights inside large softboxes with grids, aimed back towards the model powered slightly lower than my key light.

I recently completed a shoot with one of my favorite models Karina. I thought it would be fun to see how creative everyone is. I you click here you can download the RAW file. Please post your results on my Photography fan page on Facebook